Machine for adjusting spindles.



vN0. 627,582. Patented June 27, I899.

J. KlLBUBN. MACHINE FOR ADJUSTING SPINDLES.

(Application filed Feb. 20. 1899.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets8heet I.

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No. 627,582. Patented June 27, I899. J. KILBURN.

MACHINE 'FUR ADJUSTING SPINDLES.

(Application filed Feb. 20. 1899) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

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225222522E g M ma w No. 627,582. Patented June 27, I899. J. KILBURN.

MACHINE FOB ADJUSTING SPINDLES.

(Application filed Feb. 20, 1899.)

(I40 Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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' No. "627,582 Patented June 27, I899.

J. KILBURN.

MACHINE FOR ADJUSTING SPINDLE S.

(Application fiXed Feb. 20, 1899.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet .4.

w: NORRIS PETERS ca, Puma-Ursa) WASHINGTON o c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN KILBURN, OF BELMONT, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR ADJUSTING SPINDLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 627,582, dated June 27, 1899. Application filed February 20, 1899. Serial No. 706,211. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OHN-KILBURN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Belmont, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts,l1ave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Adjusting Spindles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to machines for adjusting spindlesthat is, for adjusting the step of the bolster upon which the spindle rests when in use-so as to secure a proper running fit between the tapered spindle-pintle and the tapered bearing of the bolster.

It has long been common to provide the bolster of a spindle-bearing embodying spindles having tapered pintles with an adj ustable step; but in practice it has been found to be almost impossible to provide any 'sort of adjustable step which would be capable of accurately adjusting the fit of the tapered spindle-pintle within the bolster for the reason that the adjustment between the step and bolster has depended on the skill and judgment of the operator and there was no method of definitely determining when the proper adjustment between the bolster and spindle had been secured.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a machine for adjusting spindles so constructed and arranged that the adjustment of the step along the bolster may be readily secured and the proper adjustment thereof to secure an accurate running fit between the spindle and bolster definitely determined.

To the above end the present invention consists of the devices and combinations of. devices which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a machine embodying the same, with the bolster and spindle supported therein in position for adjustment. Fig. 2 shows the machine in side elevation. Fig. 3 shows a longitudinal vertical section through the machine and the bolster and spindle, with the adjusting-rod and other parts in elevation. Fig. 4 shows a top plan View of .the machine, with the handwheel removed. Figs. 5 and 6 show, respectively, side and plan views of a modified form of the machine, which will be hereinafter referred to.

Before proceeding to a detailed description of my machine I will state that, broadly considered, it comprises a suitable support for the bolster of a spindle constructed and arranged to support the bolster with the spindle held therein by the frictional contact of its tapered pintle with the tapered wall of the bolster and so that the spindle may be free to move in the bolster-whenever the friction between the spindle and bolster has been overcome by the contact of the step with the end of the spindle-pintle, and suitable means are provided to adjust the step along the bolster to bring it in contact with the end of the spindle-pintle,the Whole being so arranged that the free movement of the spindle in the bolster will indicate when the proper adjustment has been obtained.

In the drawings are illustrated two embodiments of the present invention, and reference will first be made to that embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 4:, in which 1 represents a suitable support, which may be a post or standard, as shown, or the machine may be supported upon a work-bench, table, or similar support.

The machine comprises a suitable base 2, which is secured by screws 3 to the support 1, and projected from the base 2 is the support at for the bolster and spindle, which, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, is preferably forked or bifurcated by the open slot 5 for the ready insertion of the bolster and spindle therein. Resting upon the upper surface of the support 4: is a clamp 6, which preferably comprises a stationary plate 7, having a semicircular clamping-jaw 8, and a horizontallyswinging plate 9, having a corresponding semicircular clamping-jaw 10, the plate 9 being pivoted at 11 to the upper surface of the support 4 and being held in clamping position by means of a suitable locking-latch, such as the pivoted latch 12, arranged to engage the front edge of the swinging plate 9. Said plate 9 may also be provided with a knob 13,if desired, for its ready manipulation.

In operation the spindle-pintle is frictionally held in the bolster and the bolster and spindle placed in the machine, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the clamping-jaws 8 and 10 engaging beneath the shoulder let of the bolster, (such shoulder being a feature of most bolsters of spindle-bearin gs as now commonly constructed,) and while thus supported the step of the bolster will be adjusted along its bearing in the base of the bolster until it contacts with the end of the spindle-pintle and has been moved to such a point that it forces the spindle-pintle along the bolster sufficient to overcome the friction between the spindle-pintle and bolster, and when such friction has been overcome the spindle drops from the bolster, and such dropping indicates that the proper adjustment of the step has been secured.

In Figs. 1 to 4 the machine is arranged to support the bolster and spindle vertically in an inverted position, and the spindle drops from the bolster when the adjustment has been secured, and therefore in order to prevent the spindle from dropping on the floor andbecoming damaged the machine is provided with a stop or shelf 16, which may be hinged, as at 1'7, to the support 1 and has its upper face a slight distance below the lower end of the spindle, arranged to permit the free dropping of the spindle-pintle from the bolster, but not to clear the lower end of the bolster, and when the spindle drops and the adjustment has been secured the stop 16 may be turned about its hinge 17 and the spindle removed.

Any suitable means may be employed to adjust the step along its bearing in the bolster, dependent upon the character of the connection between the step and bolster; but the illustrated embodiments of the present invention have been particularly designed for adjusting spindles the bolsters of which are provided with steps fitted thereto with a tight driving fit, as shown in Fig. 3, and arranged to be moved along its bearing in the bolster either by tapping it a light blow or by the exercise of suflicient pressure on the end of the step, such a spindle being disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 500,311, issued tome on September 2]., 1807. The present machine,therefore, comprises a step-adjusting rod 18, which is provided with line screw-threads 19 and fitted to turn in a threaded bearing 20, formed in a bracket 21, projected from the bed 2 in such manner that the rod 18 will be in longitudinal alinement with the bolster when the bolster is supported in position, as shown in the drawings, the lower end of the rod 18 engaging the project ing end of the step 15, and when turned in its bearing 20-so as to be moved toward the step 15 it exerts suilicient force on said step to impart thereto a movement along its hearing in the end of the bolster.

Any suitable means may be provided for turning the adjusting-rod 18 in its bearing,

and in the machine of the drawings there are shown means whereby said rod may be quickly turned for the purpose of quickly moving the same toward and away from the step, and also means whereby after the end of the rod shall have been brought into contact with the step it may be gradually and progressively moved step by step to exert pressure on the step of the bolster.

For the purpose of quickly turning the rod 18 it has secured to its upper end a handwheel 22. The progressive step-by-step turning of the rod 18 is secured in the machine of the drawings by means of a hand-lever 23, which is arranged to turn freely about the rod 18 and which on its upper surface carries a pivoted pawl 24, arranged to engage a ratchetwheel 25, fixedly secured to the rod 18, the pawl being arranged to be thrown into and out of operative position with relation to the ratchet-wheel and controlled by a spring 26, secured to the under face of the lever 23 and carrying a vertical pin 27, which passes up through an aperture 28 in thelever 23 and engages the pawl 2i. The above arrangement is such that by removing the pawl 24 from engagement with the ratchet-wheel 25 the rod 18 may be quickly turned in its bearing 20 by means of the hand-Wheel 22 in order to cause its lower end to move toward and away from the step of the bolster, and after it has been brought in contact with said step the pawl 24: may be thrown into engagement with the ratchet 25, and the progressive step-by-step downward movement of the adjusting-rod 18 accomplished by means of the lever 23.

For the purpose of limiting the stroke of the lever 23, and thus limiting the progress or downward adjustment of the rod 18 at each stroke, I have arranged a bracket 29, secured to the side of the bed 2 by means of screws 30, or, if preferred, formed integrally with the bed 2, and upon the upper surface of the bracket are vertically-disposed pins 31, between which the lever 23 is arranged to swing, the pins 31 limiting the stroke of the lever 23 in both directions, and the distance between such pins being preferablysuch that at each stroke of the lever the pawl 24c will be permitted to move the distance of one tooth in the ratchet-wheel 25.

In the embodiment of the invention just described the bolster and spindle are supported in a vertical position, and, as hereinbefore fully described, the proper adjustment of the step in the bolster, and therefore the proper adjustment of the spindle, is determined by the dropping of the spindle from the bolster whenever the step has been moved to such a point as to overcome the frictional contact between the tapered spindle-pintle and the tapered bearing of the bolster.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the bolster and spindle are arranged to be supported in a horizontal position, and in this construction the proper adjustment of the step in the bolster, and therefore the proper adjustment of the spindle in the bolster, is determined by the free turning of the spindlein the bolster whenever the frictional contact between the tapered spindle-pintle and the tapered bearing in the bolster has been overcome by the adjustment of the step in the bolster, as hereinbefore explained, and suitable means have been pro- Vided, arranged to exert a constant tendency on the part of the spindle to turn in its bolster and to turn such spindle whenever the friction between its tapered pintle and the tapered bearing of the bolster has been overcome.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the machine is in all respects substantially like that shown in Figs. 1 to 4 and which has been fully described. It is, however, in this form of the invention supported on the top of a suitable table or work-bench 32 in ahorizontal position, and inasmuch as in this form of the invention the spindle does not drop from the bolster the step or shelf 16 is omitted.

As shown in the drawings in Fig. 5 and 6, the bolster and spindle when clamped in position in the support 4 extend horizontally over the table 32, and in the particular embodiment of the invention therein illustrated the means for turning the spindle when the frictional contact between the pintle and the bolster shall have been overcome by the adjustment of the step consists of the usual bobbin 33, which is fitted to the spindle in the usual manner and which at its inner end carries a metallic cup 34 of such a diameter as to inclose the whirl and bobbin-cup of the spindle (see dotted lines, Fig. 6) and of a length sufficient to extend substantially to the base of the whirl, as fully shown in the drawings. The cup 34 is fixedly secured to the bobbin 33 and at its inner edge is notched, as shown at 35, in which notch is removably secured the knotted end of a cord or string 36, which passes around a pin 37, .projected from the surface of the cup 34, preferably at or about a point which would be in line with thepoint at which the usual spindle-band engages the whirl of the spindle, as shown clearly in Fig. 6. Secured to the cord 36 is a weight 37, and said cord passes over a pulley 38, supported by a bracket or arm 39, secured to the table 32, the arrangement being such that when the bobbin 33 is frictionally connected with the spindle and the spindlepint-le frictionally engaged with the bearing in the bolster the weight 37 constantly exerts a pull on the cup 34 in a direction to turn the spindle in its bolster, and as the step 15 is moved along its bearing in the bottom of the bolster whenever it has been moved to a point to engage the end of thespindle-pintle and by a movement of the spindle in its bolster overcomes the friction between the spindle and its bolster the weight 37 will cause the spindle to turn in its bolster, thus indicating when the proper adjustment of the bolster and spindle by the adjustment of. the step has been obtained.

If desired, the end of the step-adjusting rod 13 may be provided with a recess (not shown in the drawings) to receive and seat a portion of the extreme end of the step 15, which projects beyond the bottom of the bolster.

The operation of my machine has been sufficiently set forth in the foregoing description of its form and arrangement, and a further description of its operation is deemed unnecessary.

I desire to state that in so far as I am advised of the state of the art I am the first to provide a machine for adjusting spindles embodying means for determining when the proper adjustment of the spindle has been secured and that I do not consider my invention as limited to the particular embodiment thereof defined in the foregoing specification and illustrated in the drawings; but,

Having described the construction and mode of operation of my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. In a machine for adjusting spindles, the combination with a support for supporting the bolster with the spindle-pintle frictionally held therein, constructed and arranged to permit the free movement of the spindlepintle in the bolster when the friction therebetween has been overcome, and means for adjusting the step along the bolster to overcome such friction,substantially as described.

2. In a machine for adjusting spindles, the combinationv with a support-for supporting the bolster with the spindle-pintle frictionally held therein in an inverted position, constructed and arranged to permit the spindle to drop from the bolster when the friction therebetween has been overcome, and means for adjusting the step along the bolster to overcome such friction, substantially as described.

3. In a machine for adjusting spindles embodying a bolster with a step held by a driving fit in the bolster, the combination with a support for supporting the bolster with the spindle-pintle frictionally held therein,.constructed and arranged to permit the free movement of the spindle-pintle in the bolster when the friction therebetween has been overcome, a step-adjusting rod, and means to actuate said rodv to cause it to engage the step of the bolster and exert pressure thereon to move the step along the bolster to overcome the friction between the spindle and bolster, substantially as described.

4. In a machine for adjusting spindles, the

IIO

combination with a support for supporting the bolster with the spindle-pintle frictionally held therein, constructed and arranged to permit the free movement of the spindlepintle in the bolster when the friction therebetween has been overcome by a suflicient In testimony whereof. I aflix my signature longitudinal movement of the step in the bolin presence of two witnesses. ster, and means for imparting to the step in- V T dependent incremental movements along the JOEL KILLURN' 5 bolster to move the spindle in the bolster to Witnesses:

overcome such friction, substantially as de- T. HART ANDERSON, scribed. HORACE VAN EVEREN. 

